IN the Bury Times (July 17) you reported that Councillor Roy Walker had suggested that the cycle lanes on Bolton Road should be removed because they are underused.

These lanes are only a few months old and any increase in use will inevitably be gradual.

Coun Walker tells us that in a period of one hour one morning he counted nine cyclists and 1,530 vehicles. He should therefore be more concerned about the high number of motor vehicles than the lack of cyclists. A large proportion of these vehicles would almost certainly be cars containing only the driver.

Anyone who knows anything about oil resources and air pollution would recognise that our dependence on motor cars is unsustainable and responsible politicians should be looking for alternatives.

Public transport in Greater Manchester is abysmal for a major city and for short journeys the bicycle is a good alternative to the car. If cycle lanes make cycling safer then we should be encouraging their expansion, not their removal.

Perhaps Coun Walker should reflect on his absurd suggestion to remove the cycle lanes - and other policies his party holds - because I would suggest that this kind of nonsense is the cause of the near extinction of the Conservative Party in Bury.

DR. T McC. PATERSON,

Summerseat Lane,

Holcombe Brook, Bury.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.